catuspadapitham

Crab Pose

Instructions

1. From a seated position in Easy or Staff pose, bend the knees bringing the feet flat on the floor hip width apart. Keep the arms behind your hips with the fingers pointed away from your body.

2. Lean back into the arms and slowly inhale and lift the hips up towards the ceiling. Make sure the toes and knees are pointing straight ahead. Look straight ahead, up at the ceiling or carefully drop the head back.

3. Press into the feet, squeezing the thighs and buttocks and engaging Mula Bandha to lift the hips high. Press into the hands and draw the shoulder blades towards each other to lift up high through the sternum.

4. Breathe and hold for 2-6 breaths.

5. To release: slowly exhale the hips back down to the floor.

Benefits + Contraindications

Benefits: Crab posture opens the chest and tones the low back to stimulate the respiratory and endocrine systems. Crab pose also builds arm, leg and core body strength.

Contraindications: Recent or chronic injury to the knees, hips, arms, back or shoulders.

Modifications + Variations

Modifications: If there is pain or discomfort in the wrists, point the fingers in the opposite direction or make fists with the hands.

Variations: Inhale one leg up towards the ceiling at a time, pressing out through the heel.

Vinyasa

Use one or more of the following postures to build a sequence leading up to this pose: Staff pose, Easy pose, Up Boat.

Our free Basics membership will autofill the comments form and grants access to our blog and article archives. Special "Basics membership only" content will be added in the future.

Our Yoga Books

Check out our yoga books: Yoga for Beginners takes you through all the basics of practicing yoga and then teaches you the poses in the context of a yoga practice sequence. Yoga Class guides you through eight lessons to learn 30 of the most commonly used poses while incorporating yogic philosophy and principles of alignment.

New to Yoga?

To get the most out of our site, we suggest you take some time to explore before jumping into the practice. Browse our yoga 101 section for general info on the history and types of yoga, then start exploring asanas the physical postures used in hatha yoga. Remember to breathe and always start your yoga practice with a brief meditation. If you are new to yoga, please read our Yoga for Beginner's page

Ahimsa / Non-Violence

Ahimsa, the yogic practice of non violence must be adhered to when engaging in the practice of hatha yoga. Respect your body's limitations and inner wisdom, if something feels wrong or dangerous, please do not do it.
Please consult your health care practitioner before starting a yoga, pranayama or other exercise program.

Yogic Wisdom

At each moment you choose the intentions that will shape your experiences and those things upon which you will focus your attention. If you choose consciously, you evolve consciously.